Sylvia Plath. Ted Hughes. Both poets and both very popular in the South Sefton English (particularly Lit) department. Me, Lauren and Sally had been planning a Plath Pilgrimage for weeks on twitter before it was given the good to go! In November a couple of us hopped on a mini-bus and travelled down to Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire. We had the best time ever and I'm finally sharing it with you!

For those of you who don't know, Sylv was American and came over to study at Cambridge. This is where she met Ted, who was from a large village in Hebden Bridge, in 1956 they married and later had two children. Sylv and Ted were married until her suicide in 1963, they'd had marital problems as a result of Ted's infidelity and Sylv's mental health which could change daily. After Sylv's death, Ted didn't get his happy ending and some may say he didn't deserve one. In 1969, six years after Sylv's death, his lover Assia Wevill killed herself and their four year old daughter, whatever anyone wants to say about him, no one deserves the loss he suffered.

A lot of people do blame Ted Hughes for the death of Sylvia Plath, her gravestone which reads 'Sylvia Plath Hughes' was repeatedly vandalised by those who held Ted accountable for Sylv's suicide. In fact, Wevill killed herself and their daughter in the same way as Sylv, after this many claimed that Ted had been abusive to both. I love Sylv and I love Ted, as much as I can understand the criticism Ted received I do hold the judgement that no one knows the true mental state of either women or their relationship with Ted; to blame him would be unfair even though he should have respected Sylv if he loved her as much as he claimed.

We left college sort of early, we had planned to get the train but in the end a min-bus was more practical. On the way there me, Sally and Joanna talked about the wonders of Spotify and were just really looking forward to getting there. I was nervous, I'd never thought about going to pay my respects to Sylv and now we were almost there, it was a just strange feeling.

After getting off  the bus we walked around and went to Sylv's grave. It was poignant and super emotional, some of us had more of a connection to her than others but being in a graveyard in general is upsetting. Sally, who introduced both me and Lauren to Sylv, did have a few tears, which set me and Lauren off; for us who have idolised Sylv for years now it's heartbreaking to see her grave and know that this isn't what she would have wanted. Sylv is buried above the now lively, community in Hepstonstall; the problem many of us have is that she didn't like living in Yorkshire. It was dark, dreary, boring and certainly not New England, the fact is she's stuck here forever and has no say, so at least we could say something for her. Again, maybe this is why Ted seems like such a villain; he obviously knew Sylv loathed the place, why lay her to her rest away from all the things she loved- her home, mum, the sun etc etc. It doesn't seem right.

When we'd visited her grave, we stopped for a little while in a cute cafe in Hepstonstall. We had hot drinks, cake and a little chat, then we headed down to the town. I loved the centre, it was quirky and had such a nice atmosphere; of course we had a browse in a small bookshop, I caved and bought Jane Eyre and Ariel (featured in the picture above).

For lunch, most of us brought our own food and to eat we sat in a beautiful park. As we just sat, taking in the nature you could sort of see how this place could be an inspiration for creativity. The weather that day was rainy and it was dark, I can imagine Hepstonstall being particularly haunting because of how it's laid out. Now, it's modern and made for tourists with galleries, parks, small cinemas, shops, cafes and more but back then it wouldn't have been much. For someone like Sylv who'd lived in cities most of the time it would have been a massive shift, add this to the fact she had depression, how a place that in mid-winter was always dark did her good is questionable.

Next we took a look inside a cute and rather expensive gallery, then stopped in a lovely little cafe. Some of us wondered off to explore and some stayed, then came the soap shop which also sold candles, hand creams and more. Put it this way, they got a bit of good business from us; then we slowly headed back to the mini-bus and travelled home! The ride both ways was like a rollercoaster, Hebden Bridge is up a lot of narrow country lanes and massive hills; I bet you can only imagine the ride there and back. That was it our trip to Hebden Bridge, the best college trip I'd ever been on!

The only way I can end this post is by writing a thank you to Sally:

Sal, you introduced me to all things Sylv. In fact, in some senses I feel like you introduced me to everything I missed out on; the beauty of poetry, the fun learning can bring, the fight of feminism. For  all of these, I couldn't thank you enough, in my last year of college the Hebden Bridge trip was an extraordinary way to top everything off. You're one of those teachers that goes above and beyond for pupils and people think back about not only what a wonderful teacher you are but what a wonderful person! Thanks for being such a legend Sal!